Asian Art MuseumDirector and CEO Jay Xu plans to step down in 2025, the San Francisco institution announced Monday, April 17.

Xu, hired in 2008 — making him the first Chinese American to serve as a director at a major U.S. art museum — is credited with providing steady leadership through an economic crisis and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemicwhile helping create an international destination for Asian and Asian American art. He is also the first Asian American museum director elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

“The succession plan is as important as anything for any organization,” Xu told The Chronicle. “You leave from a position of strength because it sets everyone up for success. I want to make sure we have a smooth transition and we’re not hurried.”

Under Xu’s leadership, theAsian Art Museum— which started in the 1960s in a wing of the old de Young Museum building in Golden Gate Park before moving to its current quarters, San Francisco’s old Main Library, in 2003 — has hosted 100-plus exhibitions showcasing traditional Asian art and emerging Asian American art. He also helped grow the museum’s collections to more than 20,000 objects, with more than 2,200 acquisitions over the past 15 years.

“During my time as a leader here, we have seen how the role of museums continues to evolve in ever more relevant ways — from repositories of history to places we gather to rediscover the past, understand the present and imagine the future,” Xu said.

In 2017, Xu led a$100 million capital campaignto fund the museum’s renovation, including the construction of the exhibition pavilion and the refurbishment of its collections, galleries and education facilities.

“Jay’s vision, foresight, and passion — for art, for audiences, for unforgettable experiences — has been key to the growth and long-term viability of this jewel in the cultural crown of San Francisco,” said Fred M. Levin, chair of the Asian Art Commission and Asian Art Museum Foundation, in a statement.

The Asian Art Commission and the Asian Art Museum Foundation, the dual governing boards of the museum, said they plan to launch an international search for a new director over the next two years, describing the search process as “methodical.”

“With our doubled mission, we will look for someone creative, someone curious, someone who cares about sharing the experience of Asian Americans and telling the story of Asian culture outside Asia,” Xu said. “So an understanding of the value of diversity and inclusion will be essential.”

他之前的角色,徐为nearl工作y 25 years as a research scholar, curator and museum director at various institutions. He served as head of the Asian art department and chairman of the Department of Asian and Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, curator of Chinese art at the Seattle Art Museum, a research fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and assistant to the museum director at the Shanghai Museum.

“Under Jay’s leadership, the Asian Art Museum has leapt forward. Not only by increasing the physical space where we bring Asian art to all, but by broadening our focus to share more voices and perspectives with our global audience, including being the first museum to present major exhibitions of Asian American artists likeBernice Bing,Carlos VillaandChanel Miller,” said Salle Yoo, vice chair of the Asian Art Commission and president of the Asian Art Museum Foundation, in a statement.

In December, the federal government appointed Xu to provide research for the potential creation of a national museum dedicated to Asian Pacific American history and culture. He will serve in that volunteer position concurrently with his role as the Asian Art Museum’s director.

“Jay's leadership has made such an incredible impact on Asian American arts,” Jenny Leung, executive director of the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, said in a statement. “As one of the first Chinese American museum directors, this is both a sad moment for the community and a time to celebrate and build on his legacy.”

Monetta White, executive director of the Museum of the African Diaspora, which partnered with the Asian Art Museum on solidarity events featuring Black and Asian artists especially during the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes in 2020, said, “His departure marks the end of an important era for the museum … We had the opportunity to work together on vital issues, including the rise in hate crimes against Black and Asian communities, and I deeply appreciate his partnership and support.”

Susan Statuer, the artistic director emeritus of the San Francisco Unified School District, called Xu instrumental in moving the District’s Arts Festival to the Asian Art Museum in 2013, where it was held until 2020. The festival included a week long display of student art work in the museum as well as an award ceremony with student performances in Samsung Hall.

“Jay treated the students and the parents like honored guests, he couldn’t do enough for the Festival,” said Stauter. “And it wasn’t just that he said yes to every request, he showed up.”

Stauter said that the SFUSD Visual and Performing Arts department awarded Xu their “Dreamcatcher” award in recognition of his work as an arts leader in 2014.

Xu said, no matter what comes next, he remains dedicated to the cause of elevating Asian and Asian American art.

“When Jay joined us 15 years ago, we outlined a vision for growing the museum into a global destination for experiencing the most significant and meaningful works of Asian art,” said Akiko Yamazaki, chair emerita of the Asian Art Commission and Asian Art Museum Foundation, in a statement. “I can say with confidence and pride that he has brought the Asian Art Museum into a new age and successfully laid the foundations for its future.”

Chronicle staff writer Tony Bravo contributed to this story.

Reach Aidin Vaziri: avaziri@sfchronicle.com